A very valuable oil, for watches and fine machinery, is obtained from the blubber of the “blackfish”—which is really not a fish, but a species of small whale, attaining a length of 30 feet and weighing three tons or more.

THE average person, hearing of a “blackfish,” imagines it to be an ordinary fish, about the size of a herring. But there are many fish called “black-fish” and one of them (sometimes called the “pilot-whale”) is not a fish at all, but a mammal (a species of small whale). A full-grown blackfish averages 30 feet in length and weighs about 3 tons.

A SHIP equipped with machinery for harvesting fish from the ocean has been launched at Lybeck, on the St. Johns River, Florida.

The boat is built upon long pontoons. It now remains to finish the installing of the electrical machinery ami the boat will be able to sally forth down the St. Johns River to the open ocean, there to prove or disprove the theory and dreams of the inventor of perfecting a craft that will catch, clean, cure and make ready for the market, fish in a wholesale fashion.

THOSE who are inclined to regard the scissors grinder as a dull sort of fellow, who is content to push a cart with a tinkling bell through the streets, may well

contemplate the picture reproduced herewith, of another sort of scissors grinder. He uses his bicycle, riding it until he has work to do, and then supports the rear wheel in the usual way, and uses the machine as a source of power and as his work-bench, too. A simple attachment runs the emery wheel mounted on the handle bar, and the up-to-date grinder may sit at ease and pedal as he does his work.

MISS GLADYS INGLE, stunt flyer, believes in proof. That’s why she had her picture taken with this 212-pound black bass which she caught off the coast at Hermosa Beach, California.

The giant fish was brought to submission only after a struggle lasting an hour and a half. Miss Ingle hooked tlie fish with light tackle, a fact which made the landing extremely difficult. The hook from which it is suspended in the picture is merely for the purpose of the photograph.

THERE may be fishermen who duck at the sight of a game warden but I’m not one of them. Wardens are my best friends. In fact, I wouldn’t be in my present unusual business if it hadn’t been for the imagination and encouragement of the marine warden of Eureka, California.

Life’s more fun if you go fishing— and fishing’s more fun if you’ve taken this popular college course.

Photographed for MI by George Barris

SKISH is a fairly new word combining “skill” and “fishing.” Down at Florida Southern College in Lakeland they teach a course called Skish And Outdoor Life. Coach Jim Lease, an expert in precision casting, fly-tying, plug-making, tackle repair and hooking them, gives his boys and girls a thorough grounding in the sport of presidents. Not to mention a whale of a time out fishing.

THE latest weapon devised to attack the man-eating sharks which are such a dread to surf bathers is an electrical charge. During recent tests held at Gunnamatta Bay, near Sydney, Australia, fishermen succeeded in killing a 10-foot monster with only a six-volt charge. Experiments conducted by the inventor disclose a small voltage is sufficient to kill a large shark whereas a small fish requires nearly 200 volts before being affected.

More than 200 pounds heavier than Zane Grey’s record catch of a few years ago, the giant fish was landed after only a 3-1/2 hour battle. The strain of the line, holding the mouth of the fish open, actually drowned it.